Exercising apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an exercising apparatus comprising a body support against which the torso of a person using the apparatus mainly rests, and also comprising first, upper support means ( 2; 22; 32 ) for the person&#39;s upper extremities and second, lower support ( 3; 23; 33 ) for the person&#39;s lower extremities. The apparatus is characterized in that it comprises a drive means ( 9; 39 ) for moving said upper and lower support means so that the person&#39;s upper and lower extremities, respectively, starting from a rest position (A) are imparted a movement outwards from the sides of the torso and upwards towards the person&#39;s head or a point thereabove, along parts of circular paths, to a turning point (B) and thereafter back to the rest position (A).

[0001] The present invention relates to an exercising apparatus in whichthe arms and legs of a person using the apparatus are imparted amovement as described in the preamble to claim 1.

[0002] It is generally known that passive exercising can be used tobuild up the muscular system. Both perfectly healthy people, e.g.athletes, dancers, etc., and people who for various reasons have reducedmuscular strength and need rehabilitation, may desire to build up theirmuscles. This may apply, for instance, to people who for various reasonshave suffered paralysis of the arms and legs and are therefore unable tomove their arms and/or legs without aids. It may also apply to peoplewho, due to heart trouble, have difficulty in moving their arms and legsin a manner beneficial to the muscles and therefore require assistancein maintaining the muscular system. Maintaining the muscular system isof the utmost importance so that in due course, when the situation hasimproved, e.g. the paralysis has partially passed, the person will beable to use his/her arms and legs again. In many cases it is even acondition that the muscles in arms and legs have not become too weak, ifrehabilitation is to be possible at all.

[0003] In many cases it is also desirable to increase a person'ssuppleness and ability to move. This may apply both to perfectly healthypeople as well as to people in the process of being rehabilitated. Whenonly the strength of a muscle is exercised it will be shortened. Thisgives the muscle a shorter working path but in practice it also resultsin a reduced ability to correctly utilise the increased strengthresources. Performing stretching exercises is then a method of quicklyincreasing the length of a muscle group and thus the amount of movementin the joint.

[0004] Various types of apparatuses are already known which attempt tosolve the above-mentioned problems in various ways, such as described inU.S. Pat. No. 3,895,623 and DE-A-40 39 843. These known apparatuses aredirected primarily to exercising the legs in walking-like movements,with corresponding movement for the arms. The person using the apparatusin then lying down. These apparatuses offer no opportunity forstretching. Neither do they offer any exercising of the muscles andmuscle parts used in sideways movements.

[0005] The object of the present invention is to provide a solution tothe above-mentioned problems by proposing an improved exercisingapparatus, in particular for passive exercising of the arm and legmuscles, both to increase the muscles and to increase mobility by meansof stretching.

[0006] The above-mentioned object of the invention is achieved by meansof an exercising apparatus as defined in the characterizing part ofclaim 1.

[0007] The present invention thus relates to an exercising apparatuscomprising a body support against which the torso of a person using theapparatus mainly rests, and also comprising first, upper support meansfor the person's upper extremities and second, lower support means forthe person's lower extremities. It also comprises a drive means formoving said upper and lower support means so that the person's upper andlower extremities, respectively, starting from a rest position, areimparted a movement outwards from the sides of the torso and upwardstowards the person's head or a point thereabove, along parts of acircular path, to a turning point and thereafter back to the restposition. With the aid of this exercising apparatus, therefore, arms andlegs are caused to perform a pendular movement which has a strengtheningeffect on the musculature in the limbs. In addition, stretching of themuscles is obtained throughout the movement, particularly at the turningpoint which can be set depending on the potential of the individual andwhere maximum stretch is obtained.

[0008] The apparatus operates in accordance with the PNF method, alsoknown as the contraction-relaxation-stretch method. With the aid of theexercising apparatus according to the present invention the followingmuscles can be exercised by means of the lateral movements performed:

[0009] The seat muscular system: This contributes to stabilising the hipjoints when only one foot is in contact with the ground, which is thecase e.g. when running. These muscles are subjected to particularlygreat strain when running uphill and downhill.

[0010] The groin muscular system: This contributes to inward swing ofthe leg. All types of activity involving swinging of the leg causeconsiderable strain on this muscle.

[0011] The hip joint: This musculature is subjected to considerablestrain during running, jumping, javelin-throwing, sit-ups, etc. Theobject here is to achieve as great a distance as possible between originof the movement and the muscular attachment, through stretching.

[0012] The inside of the hip: Increased mobility gives increased strideand less risk of groin injury.

[0013] The large chest muscle and broad back muscle: The movement of thearms is used to relieve or put weight on the body in a number ofdifferent activities.

[0014] The exercising apparatus in accordance with the invention has theadvantage of increasing the efficiency and facilitating the exercisethat constitutes the basis for almost all athletes, dancers, etc. andfor physiotherapy.

[0015] It also contributes to reducing the risk of injuries occurring,particularly through longer running step.

[0016] It should be emphasised that it is a great advantage to be ableto exercise by performing lateral movements since existing apparatusesdo not offer any such possibility.

[0017] In accordance with the present invention the upper support meansfor the upper extremities comprises handles which can be gripped by theuser's hands. In corresponding manner the lower support means preferablycomprises foot rests for the person's lower extremities. The positionsof these handles and foot rests are preferably adjustable to suit thelength of the user's extremities.

[0018] According to a preferred embodiment the drive means of theapparatus comprises a drive unit and a turning mechanism connecting saiddrive unit to said upper and lower support means and transmitting aturning movement to them.

[0019] It should also be mentioned that the apparatus can be set, orparts may be disconnected, so that not all extremities must be exercisedsimultaneously. It is thus possible to exercise only one leg, forexample, if so desired.

[0020] The present invention is primarily useful for passive exercisingof the musculature in arms and legs but also has the advantage that itcan be used for various degrees of active training depending on how thedrive means controlling the movements are set. The apparatus alsoprovides a certain amount of condition exercising, i.e. the cardiacmusculature also works harder to a certain extent when a personexercises with the aid of the apparatus.

[0021] Additional features and advantages are revealed in thesubordinate claims.

[0022] The invention will now be described with reference to theembodiments illustrated by way of example, with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

[0023]FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a set of movements a person usingthe apparatus in accordance with the invention may suitably perform,

[0024]FIG. 2 illustrates schematically a first embodiment of anapparatus in accordance with the present invention, seen from the front,

[0025]FIG. 3 illustrates schematically the apparatus in FIG. 2, seenfrom the side along the line A-A,

[0026]FIG. 4 illustrates schematically a detail in a second embodimentof an apparatus in accordance with the present invention,

[0027]FIG. 5 illustrates schematically another detail of an apparatus inaccordance with a second embodiment of the invention, and

[0028]FIG. 6 illustrates schematically a third embodiment of anapparatus in accordance with the present invention.

[0029] The pattern of movement illustrated in FIG. 1 shows in unbrokenlines a person standing in a rest position A with both legssubstantially together and straight below the torso in a straight linetherewith. The arms are extended slightly to the sides. With the aid ofthe apparatus in accordance with the invention the arms and legs will becaused to perform a movement, in the form of a pendular movement, fromsaid rest position A to said turning point B, indicated by broken linesin FIG. 1, and from this turning point the arms and legs are thenreturned to the rest position A. In the example illustrated the turningpoint is approximately 45° from the starting position of the legs, andapproximately 90° from the starting position of the arms. Both arms andlegs have performed a pendular movement following parts of a circularpath. The stroke of the angular movement can naturally be varied asdesired. The movement of the arms may also be started from a restposition in which the arms are substantially parallel with the body, orany other position. Similarly the movement of the legs may be commencedfrom a rest position in which the legs are somewhat further apart thanis shown in FIG. 1, if desired.

[0030]FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate schematically a first embodiment of anexercising apparatus in accordance with the invention. The apparatuscomprises first, upper support means 2 for the upper extremities of theperson who is exercising, i.e. the arms and hands, and second, lowersupport means 3 for the person's lower extremities, i.e. legs and feet.Handles 5 are arranged furthest out on the upper support means and sometype of foot rests 6 are arranged furthest out on the lower supportmeans. The apparatus comprises a drive means with drive unit 9 which, inthe example illustrated, consists of a pneumatic or hydraulic powercylinder. This drive unit is connected to a rack 10 which is verticallymovable, upwards and downwards with the aid of this cylinder. Twotoothed wheels 13, 14 are arranged one on each side of and in engagementwith the rack 10. These toothed wheels are rotatable in oppositedirections with the aid of the rack when this is moved up or down by thecylinder 9.

[0031] As can be seen in FIG. 2 the apparatus consists of two identical,mirror-inverted parts, each comprising an arrangement resembling a swingarm consisting of one of said upper support means and one of said lowersupport means. The swing-arm arrangement can be turned about a shaft ofrotation 12. The upper support means, for the arms, here has a fixedposition in relation to the lower support means, for the legs, but thisnaturally need not be the case.

[0032] Each of the toothed wheels 13, 14 is connected to said swing-armarrangement, e.g. in that the swing-arm arrangement is fixed to theshaft of the corresponding toothed wheel, which consequently constitutessaid shaft of rotation. When the rack is moved upwards the toothedwheels are turned and the upper and lower support means then travelsideways in opposite directions along parts of a circular path.

[0033] The mechanical parts of the apparatus may possibly be situatedbehind a wall 16, FIG. 3. This may be due to reasons of safety. The wallis then provided with slots 17, 18 through which the handles and footrests protrude.

[0034]FIG. 4 illustrates schematically a second embodiment of anapparatus in accordance with the invention. Here, too, the drive meanscomprises a drive unit in the form of a power cylinder 9. This powercylinder is connected to a link mechanism or a crank arm 20 by means ofwhich a first disc 21 is caused to rotate when the cylinder 9 performs ato and fro movement. The first disc 21 in turn drives a second disc 25with the aid of a cogged belt 26 or some similar arrangement. Naturallyit is perfectly possible instead for the link mechanism 20 to drive onlyone rotating disc in a manner corresponding to that illustrated in thefirst embodiment. Similarly it is also possible to replace the linkmechanism in this second embodiment with a rack and adapt thetransmission of movement between the rotating discs/toothed wheels tothis.

[0035] As can be seen in FIG. 5, the first disc 21 is connected to asupport means 23 for the lower extremities and the second disc 25 isconnected to a support means 22 for the upper extremities. When thefirst disc 21 rotates, the second disc 22 will also be rotated and aturning or pendular movement will be imparted to the two support means23 and 22 along part of a circular path in a manner corresponding tothat illustrated in FIG. 1. In the example shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 thetwo discs have different diameters and different gear ratios areobtained for the arm and leg movements, i.e. the stroke length for thearms and legs will be different. In the case illustrated the strokelength of the arm movement is considerably larger than that of the legmovement.

[0036]FIG. 6, finally, illustrates a third embodiment of an apparatus inaccordance with the present invention. Here, also, is a turningmechanism comprising a rack 30 driven by a drive unit which in this caseis an electric motor 39. The support means for arms 32 and legs 33,respectively, are caused to perform their turning or pendular movementwith the aid of a lever arrangement. This lever arrangement comprisescords 40,41,42 connecting the rack 30 to bent parts 45,46 of the supportmeans for arms and legs, respectively. When the rack is moved downwardsthe support means 32, 33 will be turned outwards and upwards by means ofthis lever arrangement.

[0037] As is clear from the placing of the support means in FIG. 6, thearms will assume a rest or starting position in which they are parallelwith the body, along the sides of the body. The starting/rest positionfor both arms and legs should be adjustable as desired in allembodiments.

[0038] In the third embodiment shown in FIG. 6 a support for the user'sbody is also illustrated, in the form of a back rest 50 and a seat orsaddle 51. Side supports 52, 53 are also arranged for arms and legs. Theapparatus is thus designed primarily for use by a person standingupright and simultaneously resting his/her upper body against the backrest and his/her pelvis against the saddle. However, it is also feasibleto provide the exercising apparatus with equipment enabling theapparatus to the incline so that the user can assume a more or lesssemi-reclining position if so desired. The various supports shall thenbe adjusted appropriately. It is also possible to remove the seat ifdesired.

[0039] Buttons and controls for adjusting the speed and stroke of theangular movement of the support means are preferably provided in one ofthe handles or nearby.

[0040] It should also be mentioned that the exercising apparatus mayalso be provided with equipment enabling the user to pass from purelypassive muscular exercise to various degrees of active muscular exerciseby regulating the extent to which the drive means contribute toaccomplishing the movement of the support means.

[0041] The present invention shall not be considered limited to what isstated in the embodiments described above by way of example, but may bevaried and modified in many ways, as is understood by one skilled in theart, within the scope of the appended claims.

1. Exercising apparatus comprising a body support against which thetorso of a person using the apparatus mainly rests, and also comprisingfirst, upper support means (2; 22; 32) for the person's upperextremities and second, lower support means (3; 23; 33) for the person'slower extremities, characterized in that it comprises a drive means (9;39) for moving said upper and lower support means so that the person'supper and lower extremities, respectively, starting from a rest position(A) are imparted a movement outwards from the sides of the torso andupwards towards the person's head or a point thereabove, along parts ofcircular paths, to a turning point (B) and thereafter back to the restposition (A).
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in thatthe upper support means (2; 22; 32) comprises handles (5; 35) which canbe gripped by the hands of the upper extremities.
 3. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 2, characterized in that the position of the handles(5; 35) is adjustable so that it can be adjusted to allow the peopleusing the apparatus to have substantially straight arms even if thelength of their arms varies individually.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in anyone of claims 1-3, characterized in that the lower support means (3; 23;33) comprises foot rests (6; 36) against which the feet of the lowerextremities rest.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, characterized inthat the position of the foot rests (6; 36) is adjustable so that it canbe adjusted to allow the people using the apparatus to havesubstantially straight legs even if the length of their legs variesindividually.
 6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the precedingclaims, characterized in that the drive means comprises a drive unit (9;39) and a turning mechanism (10,13,14; 20,21,25,26; 30,40,41,42,45,46)connecting said drive unit to said upper (2; 22; 32) and lower (3; 23;33) support means and transmitting a turning movement to them. 7.Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the turningmechanism comprises a rack (10) that can be moved by said driving unit(9), and at least two toothed wheels (13, 14) forming first rotatingdiscs and being arranged one on each side of and in engagement with saidrack, thereby being rotatable in opposite directions when said rack ismoved.
 8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, characterized in that each ofsaid toothed wheels (13, 14) is arranged about a shaft that is joinedto, and also constitutes a swivel joint (12) for one of said upper (2)and one of said lower (3) support means so that movement of said rack(10) effects said movement of the upper and lower support means thatimparts the part-circular movements to the upper and lower extremities9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that for each unitformed by one of said upper and one of said lower support means, theturning mechanism comprises a link mechanism (20) which transmits arotary movement to a first rotating disc (21) connected to said supportmeans (22, 23).
 10. Apparatus as claimed in either one of claims 7 or 9,characterized in that the turning mechanism also comprises a secondrotating disc (25), the first rotating disc (21) being connected to thelower support means (23) and the second rotating disc (25) beingconnected to the upper support means (22), and said discs beingconnected to each other and rotating simultaneously.
 11. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 10, characterized in that said discs (21, 25) havedifferent diameters thereby giving the upper and lower support meansdifferent gear ratio.
 12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, characterizedin that the turning mechanism comprises a rack (30) connected to a leverarrangement (40,41,42,45,46).